Christmas is always interesting here. We never really know what we will be doing. This year we spent Christmas Eve with Abby (my sis), her fiance Pete (she is marrying an Aussie), and his parents. We had a yummy traditional Christmas dinner of prawns, clams, smoked salmon, and roast beef salad. Pete's parents gave the girls some presents, all of which made noise :-) We really had a good time with them and it was nice getting to know Pete's family a bit more.
Christmas day was packed to the brim with activity. We opened our gifts in the morning. Of course skype was going the entire time so that our parents could join in on the chaos. When presents were finished with we packed up all the new toys/books/cds/etc. put them in the car and headed to Fitzroy gardens in the CBD (downtown) of Melbourne.
We met the Blackwoods, my other sister Eleni (here visiting), and the Blakston clan at the gardens. There was a major picnic (two tables of food), games, kites, and siestas. We got there around 1pm and didn't leave until after 5. Lots and lots of fun. We brought our badminton set and soccer ball. The Blackwoods and Blakstons brought bocce ball.
I would have to say the most interesting thing I ate was the Turkish fairy floss (cotton candy for you Americans) and the spinach-date-pistachio quiche. It was really yummy. There is a pic of the fairy floss box in the album below.
After thoroughly tiring ourselves out we headed southeast to Frankston. Jono and Lou Blakston came up with the great idea of house swapping for the following week (Dec. 25-Jan. 1st). They wanted to come down to Geelong to visit with family and work on their rental house and they figured we might like to hang with the Blackwoods and Eleni. So swap we did. It was great fun and a cheap holiday.
The Blakstons only live a few minutes from the Blackwoods. Due to the close proximity we were able to hang out with the Blackwoods and Eleni pretty much every day we were there. Good times! We had a White Elephant gift exchange, visited three beaches, drove the Blackwood's bus to Philip Island, fixed the Backwood's bus compressor, helped sand and seal the church floor, and brought in the new year. Hooray for house swapping!
If any of you want a fairly cheap holiday I would recommend swapping houses with friends.
From Frankston we headed to Sorrento for the annual New Years Day picnic. It started out windy, overcast, and cloudy but ended with sun. The cold weather did not stop most of the kids from jumping into the ocean, Jolene included.
After the picnic we drove the car onto the Queenscliff/Sorrento ferry and rode it back to our side of the bay. This saved us driving back around the bay, about a 3hour drive.
A thoroughly enjoyable trip. Here is a map showing where we went.
Job update. Brandon was able to apply for about 15 jobs while we were away. He has received several "ding" letters back. Not a huge surprise seeing as though most of the jobs are in waterworks and railway areas. It always seems that it is who you know that gets you a job. Our friends over here are on the hunt and we are very thankful for that. Brandon has a couple of leads for jobs at some engineering firms here in Geelong. He talked to one today and it seems promising. The experience Brandon has gained working for Allan fits right into what this company is doing. Time will tell. God is good. He has brought me some work (the iPod research project) that will take care of a few months. After that I will have website work that can keep us going for even longer if needed. All of this is part time which is good because it will give Brandon time to look for jobs, apply, and then sit through interviews. Once again we are seeing God provide just enough, not more than we need but just what we need. We are thankful for this and are at peace that it is in His hands.
Here are picture albums of all our travels and adventures over the past few weeks. Enjoy!
Holiday Travels Part 1
Holiday Travels Part 2
Holiday Travels Part 3
Holiday Travels Part 4
2 comments:
We're glad that you had a good holiday! We didn't get to go home this year either, but M's parents came up. We're praying that God will provide for you guys and give B a job!
It is really good to hear brandon is getting some bites.
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